nbthree3

To get 12 (8 non-penalties) from this is fantastic, especially as he was injured for almost half the season.

"It’s understood Newcastle agreed a season-long loan deal with a guaranteed permanent £15million transfer if the Baggies are promoted this week – but Gayle said no to the deal. United were due to bank £5million for the loan deal if it went through. West Brom instead turned to Charlie Austin on deadline day." From the Chronicle article it's quoting, up to £20m with £15m guaranteed (they weren't promoted "this week" despite the article being in August, think it's referencing events in May?)

https://tbrfootball.com/report-newcastle-turned-down-15m-move-to-join-west-brom/ - August 2019, Bruce had come in a few weeks earlier. Off the back of a Rondon-Gayle swap season, with Rondon in China with Rafa by this point Despite that, Newcastle were willing to let him leave if a suitable offer was made, with two years left on Gayle’s contract. The Toon agreed a deal which would see West Brom sign him on loan, with a £15m permanent clause. But Gayle has turned down the move for two reasons. One, he wants to fight for his place at Newcastle and two, if he was to leave it needed to be immediately permanent. Stoke City tried to do the latter, but could not agree terms.

"He gets criticised for the team not playing attractive football" - we're the most passive side in the PL for a long time. PPDA is the highest average out of any team since at least 2014/15 according to Understat, 18 last season and 19 the season before. Meaning the opposition has on average 18.5 passes, combining both seasons, before we think about making a defensive action like a press. The median seems to be around 13, which is where we were previously since promotion. "but I think he deserves a new contract for working with Mike Ashley." - if simply working with Ashley deserves a new contract, then any manager we've had since 2007 fits into that, I don't think Carver etc deserved a new contract "He's got his hands tied" - appreciate the uncertainty, especially over the takeover, but surely we have enough for free transfers? Townsend for example. Fraser last summer or even Hendrick even if fans haven't warmed to him. Debut was great admittedly! "He's a Newcastle fan." - vast majority on this forum are Newcastle fans. Graeme Jones is a Newcastle fan. We even have a few players who are Newcastle fans, it has no bearing on the success of a team. If anything, it makes the downfall harder because it's your own club you're affecting. "They demand that the team goes at people but that's been squashed a little bit" - continue to be the most passive side in terms of style in at least 7 seasons. This season a small improvement on the last. Very lucky to have a natural goalscorer like Wilson, one of the small bright sparks about the new season. A fit Fraser and Wilson partnership starting would do wonders. "because they've been relegated and then [Rafa] Benitez took over and played 4-5-1." - Relegation resets the clock on progress so we'll compare from 2017/18 onwards. Rafa used a 4-4-1-1, and the more standard 4-4-2 on occasion, also a 4-2-3-1 , opting for a 3-4-3 in the 2nd half of 18/19 when Almiron signed. https://themastermindsite.com/2018/08/05/3-ways-to-play-in-a-4-5-1/ Different forms of a 4-5-1, but not a flat formation outright. "you'd be able to sit back and let teams have 60 per cent possession, but they did." - Russell Martin infamously at MK Dons had his team with an average possession comparable to Man City yet their side were mid-table. Their goal difference didn't stack up (think it was +2 in the end) so it is what you do with the ball that counts, not how much you have. A successful counter attack system could be our identity, or in the words of Graham Potter "you're just another Premier League side" that doesn't stand out without an identity, he said that while at Swansea. His Brighton side, meanwhile, do stand out, if anything for their xG underperformance. We lost 4-3 at Man City in May with only 18% of the ball. I think with 19% in 18/19 we beat them 2-1. "They realised he's done the job with no money" - Callum Wilson for £20m, Jamal Lewis for £15m. This summer, definitely the money's tight, but I'd argue the money that was supposed to be invested this summer was spent on Lewis. We're a case-by-case club so figured the link with Liverpool etc made him too great a prospect to ignore. 19/20 I'll not judge the £40m Joelinton or £17m Saint-Maximin because the pre-load was arguably done ahead of his appointment. Point stands, we've spent money. No real major outgoings too, which would have balanced the books. It's because we've got a load of deadwood that inflate our wage budget, but don't have good sell-on value. Which suggests our transfer model is flawed, we keep players on for too long. Gayle could have signed for West Brom for £15m or so but that didn't happen. Lejeune I guess is an example too but his age and injury record justified a lower fee. "He's having a go at teams he thinks he can beat" - Who can we beat? The promoted sides definitely and hopefully the surrounding teams. Anyone with ambition, no chance. We won the Championship in 2016/17, yet ambitious clubs like Leeds, Villa and Wolves have outspent and raced past us. We've been caught up in ourselves and now try to feel sorry while other clubs compete. Burnley I think are the only team I can think of with the same objective as us. I'd argue they're coming down with us too. Watford would be my other choice for the bottom 3 as it stands. West Ham and Everton were the 2 we did the double over. 6 teams we lost both games to. "and he's not shopping in the top shelf. He's shopping three stores down somewhere to try and get his players" - or in the case of this summer so far, he's not shopping full stop! "and if he keeps Newcastle in league, I think he's done a good job." - It is for Ashley. The fact he didn't try to tie down Rafa at the end of his contract shows he's happy for a cheaper alternative to achieve, materially the same thing. If we finish 8th and don't get Europe, that's the same as finishing 17th and staying up without the added placement bonus you'd have to shell out for finishing higher. Until a takeover, 17th is as good as 8th. Finish 7th and higher and I'd argue you're a little delusional (but you never know, West Ham fans might've felt similar about their club last year!) but that'd harm us as we don't have the squad depth and Ashley wouldn't want to invest to consolidate on that quality. For me, I can't have a 5th season of stagnation. 44, 45, 44, 45. While it's still PL football, knowing that we'll repeat last year and the year before and the year before brings little joy. No wonder we're bottom of the optimism table again. Target is 50 points but I don't think pending a Jones masterclass we'll come anywhere near.

He told TalkSPORT: "He gets criticised for the team not playing attractive football but I think he deserves a new contract for working with Mike Ashley. "He's got his hands tied and they finished 13th. "He's a Newcastle fan. I've been there and worked there, it's a great club with great supporters. "They're really enthusiastic and as friendly as you can imagine - any other club I've been at, I was treated brilliantly there. "They demand that the team goes at people but that's been squashed a little bit because they've been relegated and then [Rafa] Benitez took over and played 4-5-1. "I never thought a crowd at St. James' Park - you'd be able to sit back and let teams have 60 per cent possession, but they did. "They realised he's done the job with no money and now Steve Bruce has ended up with the job. Similarly, he's setting the team up not to lose most games. "He's having a go at teams he thinks he can beat and he's not shopping in the top shelf. He's shopping three stores down somewhere to try and get his players. "He's been given the minimum amount of money and if he keeps Newcastle in league, I think he's done a good job."

Getting the Sunderland "and social media" writer to do it, I see why none of ours would touch it

"Benitez was, on occasion, able to use this blueprint to strengthen, too. During the summer of 2017, after growing increasingly infuriated by his inability to convince the hierarchy to pay for his targets — even the free transfer of Willy Caballero was vetoed, partly because he was 35 — he leapt at the opportunity to sign Jacob Murphy. The Norwich winger was hardly a priority target for Benitez but, because he was 22, available for an initial £10 million and deemed likely to appreciate in value, Newcastle were keen to acquire him and so the manager brought him in, in part, because it was a deal he was able to conclude."

We lost the Hendrick derby

Some people thought this TV deal might've been used as leverage for the takeover, but it's been approved anyway. An exclusion under the Competition Act 1998 which rolls over the existing TV deals as is (The Premier League would normally have re-tendered its domestic broadcast rights in early 2021 at the mid-point of the current three-year cycle and would have concluded sales by now. Instead, owing to the impact of Covid-19, you have requested that the Government make an Exclusion Order allowing it to renew its current domestic broadcast agreements for an additional three-year period starting 2022-23 without conducting the normal tender process. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/premier-league-broadcast-rights-potential-exclusion-order/letter-to-richard-masters-premier-league-12-may-2021)

Muto had marginally better numbers than Gayle did for us in 17/18 and appeared far more clinical (19 shots on target, 8 goals compared + xG of 4.9 to Gayle's 22 on target, 6 goals + xG of 9.6). Keep in mind we had Joselu as well that season. Muto was bought for too much if he was never intended as a starter; he said when he joined he wanted 10 goals in 18/19. Didn't even get 10 games ever! Maybe it was a language barrier preventing tactics getting across, I've heard that shouted. But we need to do proper due diligence on players if that's the main reason

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/arsenal-make-first-james-maddison-21212370 Arsenal and another London club have proposed a player plus cash deal for Leicester midfielder James Maddison, football.london understands. The major sticking point for Arsenal however, is Leicester's demands of over £60million for the former Norwich and Coventry midfielder. However, it's understood that the Gunners have sounded out the possibility of signing Maddison by offering a player in the deal via intermediaries to make the transfer fee more viable. Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah are among the players available for transfer this summer, although it is not confirmed who has been offered as the makeweight.

Gone

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-united-joe-willock-kick-21210876 When asked if he had a self-imposed deadline for the Willock loan bid, Bruce said: "No. "But I would kick myself if it happened (he left on loan) and we didn't get him. "So no I haven't got a cut-off point in my head." Meanwhile, the other loanee the Magpies are chasing in Axel Tuanzebe has been linked with Aston Villa. However, sources at the Old Trafford end are quoting an astronomical £5million loan fee for his services this season. Given Newcastle have already said on the record - via Bruce himself - the club have minimal funds to spend, such a cost would dent Newcastle's transfer budget significantly. United are hopeful of boosting the coffers slightly by offloading Yoshinori Muto to Vissel Kobe. This would trim the club's wage budget with Muto's £54,000 per week earnings coming off Newcastle's finances. I do wonder where the problem lies in all this

999, what's your emergency? ...The Premier League won't approve our takeover

https://twitter.com/LukeEdwardsTele/status/1422113754171559940?s=19

As it's convenient here a bit on Bruce: “I spoke to him before I joined the club and got a good vibe,” Callum says. “He seemed like a very good man-manager and had me laughing on the phone. I thought, ‘OK, that’s what you want. You want a good working environment’. As a player, all you want is to be in the team, so if the manager picks you, you’re always going to get along. I’ve not been in his bad books yet! You just try to perform and make sure you can do him a favour and repay the fee they’ve paid for you.”

Callum Wilson on Graeme Jones: https://theathletic.com/2741460/2021/08/02/shearer-meets-wilson-asking-joelinton-for-no-9-shirt-targeting-world-cup-with-saint-maximin-dinner-with-ashley/ “I think Graeme Jones coming in as a coach (in January), definitely complemented the manager because he’s a little bit more tactically aware and up to date, whereas the manager has his different strengths and attributes. When you see the results towards the back end of the season and the way we were in games, we had more of a style and philosophy. That will happen from the start of the season with a good coach around to help out the previous coaches."

It was 3.71 last year, so there's an improvement! I had a look on Facebook and looks like the mainstream justification is because we expect too much therefore are never happy with staying up which is "where you should be" (football is about challenging limits and overcoming barriers so there's no such thing as a place to belong)

Anniversary when they first made the top flight 40 years ago https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57672226 "Swansea say the crest is an "acknowledgement and homage to a golden era" in their history. The original badge did not feature on Swansea's team strip in the First Division era, but was used on promotional material such as match programmes. It was then used on their kit during the 1990s."

Finished 13th and 10th with Sunderland, 44 and 47 points. He's actually done better in actual points there than he did here! Marginally... we are Sunderland 10 years ago really. Least they had the foresight to get rid, but didn't follow up convincingly time and time again opting for short-term managers

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-steve-bruce-contract-21197708 Bruce told reporters on Friday: "I honestly don't know where it comes from or where that is. "Was it eight years or three years? "I'd prefer eight years. "But no, it was news to me." Ashley refused to sack Bruce last season when results were poor, and in turn, Bruce has vowed never to walk away from the job, despite its financial constraints, pressure and public scrutiny. The Toon owner would have to pay a big settlement package to Bruce if he decided to change manager, but the reality is that Bruce has done a similar job to Benitez, finishing 13th and 12th, securing survival long before the final day. Chief Newcastle United Writer for the Evening Chronicle, Lee Ryder everyone... if you're looking only at the league table and points "accumulated" yes. But it's a cover-up for the blatant stagnation hidden beneath and surely Lee recognises that